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March 17, 1964 w. CLARK HAIR-CUTTING GUIDE Filed Nov. 7, 1960 2Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR. WILLARD L. CLARK W ATTORNEY Marth 17, 1964Filed Nov. '7, 1960 W. L. CLARK 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 V lOc lob l4 I01: ma

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WILLARD L6 RK W ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,125,101 HAIR-CUTTINGGUIDE Willard L. Clark, Greeley, Colo. (1010 Shortleaf Court, Loveland,Colo.) Filed Nov. 7, 1960, Ser. No. 67,528 1 Claim. ((11. lea-4s Thisinvention relates to the art and practice of hairdressing, and moreparticularly to the trimming of hair into conformity with the modecurrently characteristic of males, and has as an object to provide meansman-ipulable as a guide for hair cutting instrumentalities toadvantageously facilitate such operations.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedconstruction and unitary organization of elements constituting ahair-cutting guide.

A turther object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedhair-cutting guide operable by those lacking professional skill toattainment of sightly, professionalappearing results.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedhair-cutting guide adapted for single-hand manipulation throughout anadequately-wide range of operative dispositions relative to the humanhead and hair-cutting instrumentalities applied thereto.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improvedhair-cutting guide that is economical of production in desired sizes andpreferred structural particularity, that is simple and convenient ofuse, that is durable and long-lived as an integrated organizationamenable to cleansing and sterilization, and that is positive andefficient in attainment of the ends for which designed.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, my invention consists inthe construction, arrangement, and operative organization of elements ashereinafter set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated by theaccompanying drawings, in which FIGURE 1 is a plan view of a typicalembodiment of the invention with one manipulating element thereof brokenaway to conserve space.

FIGURE 2 is a side elevation of the organization according to FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a transverse section, on a relatively-enlarged scale, takensubstantially on the indicated line 33 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 4 is a side elevation, on a relatively-reduced scale, of theimprovement according to the preceding views in position of practicaluse.

Occasion for and the techniques incident to the trimming of human hairto the mode and style currently favored by males are fully understoodbeyond need of elabo ration herein, it being noteworthy only thatsightly and satisfactory results require skillful adjustment and blendedgraduation of hair length rfrom a minimum at the temples, over the ears,and across the back of the neck, somewhat beyond the normal capabilityof a non-professional op erator, and the instant invention is hencedirected to the provision of a guide conveniently manipulable by anyuser in cooperation with cutting instrumentalities to determine the hairlength adjustment and blended graduation primary to desired effect.

As illustrated, the improved guide is an elongated, unitary assembly ofsimilar, longitudinal-ly-arcuate comb bars of any suitable,substantiallyrigid material, such as molded synthetic resins, theso-called plastics, and the like. Alike in a longitudinal curvatureconsiderably more gradual than the hair bearing convexities of the humanhead, and correspondingly conver-gently tapered in width from a maximumat their midportions to a minimum at their ends, the comb bars 10 arerepresented as desirably six in number adjusted in length to provide apair of longer bars 10a, a pair of shorter bars 10b, and a pair ofintermediate-length bars 100. Rigidly intercoupled in uniformly spacedparallelism of their wider midportions by means of a transverse strut111 integrally or fixedly spanning therebetween, the comb bars areassembled in registration of their convex margins with the longer bars10a outermost, the shorter bars 10b innermost, and the bars lllcdividing the intervals between adjacent bars 10a and 10b in a manner tosymmetrically retract ends of the bars 100, at each end of the assembly,inwardly from the adjacent ends of the bars 10a and to similarly retractends of the bars 10b a less distance inwardly from the adjacent ends ofthe bars 10c, in which arrangement the spaced end portions of all of thebars are united in a slight, symmetrical convergence of the barslongitudinally and in both directions outwardly of the assembly by meansof yokes 12, desirably arcuate in plan, integrally or fixedly connectingtherebetween inwardly from the terminals thereof. The unitary assemblyof comb bars 10 comprised as above set forth is conditioned formanipulation by means of like handles 13 fixedly outstanding from andlaterally of the outermost bars 10a at opposite sides of the strut 11wherewith they are linked for adequate strength and rigidity by means ofstiffening ribs 14 formed as enlargements along convex midportionmargins of the bars Illa.

In accordance with and to give effect to the principles of theinvention, the comb bars 10 similarly mount teeth 15 in distinctivearrangements at the opposite sides of the strut 11. Fixed to and in adesirably uniform spacing along the concave side of each of the combbars 10a, 10b and Ida in either registered or staggered relationlaterally of the bar assembly, the teeth 15 instand from the associatedbar in the plane of the bar width at a slight inclination such as todirect their free ends inwardly of the bar length and away from theadjacent end of the bar beyond the zones of their attachment to the bar,the arrays of teeth 15 at the opposite sides of the strut 11 hence beingconvergent. Conjoined to the associated bar in a thickness equal to thatof the bar and a width along the latter adequate for security ofattachment, the teeth 15 individually taper in the width plane of thebar to a narrowed tip in side elevational aspect and symmetricallydiverge transversely of and outwardly from the bar to a free endterminal widened laterally of the bar assembly in a maintained spacing:from corresponding terminals of laterally-adjacent teeth. Similarlyformed and attached to their respective comb bars, the teeth 15comprised in an array thereof at one side of the strut 11 differ but inlength of individual extension from the associated bar and are graduatedas to such length from a minimum adjacent the bar end and to a maximumadjacent the strut in a manner to dispose their free ends asdeterminants of a concave arc in general conformable to hairbearingconvexities of the human head. Side areas of the human head generallycorresponding in a convexity less pronounced than that at the rear ofthe head, the array of teeth 15 at one side of the strut 11 islengthgraduated to outline a relatively shallow concavity conformable tohuman head side areas and the tooth array at the other side of saidstrut is differently length-graduated to outline a relatively deepconcavity conformable to the convexity at the rear of the head.Supplementing the teeth 15 of the major arrays just described, similarteeth 15' expediently project from zones of the yokes 12 betweenadjacent comb bars to terminate in the concavity outline established bythe adjacent teeth 15.

Constituted as shown and described in appropriate size from any suitablematerial in any feasible manner, the improvement is a facilityconvenient of practical use with marked advantage. It being desired totrim the hair at the rear of a head, the guide unit of the invention ismanipulated by one of the handles 13 in the grasp of an operator toposition the tooth array defining the deeper concavity below such gripin opposition to the head area to be trimmed and to conformably engagesuch concavity with the head area, as represented by FIGURE 4. Uponfirst engagement of the ends of the teeth 15 outlining the concavityagainst the head area, the guide unit is slightly raked longitudinally,and perhaps laterally, to fully enter the tooth tips Within the hair,whereafter the unit is elevated a bit along the head contour to applythe widened ends of the teeth with elevating effect upon the hair whichis thereby constrained to outstand from the head between the comb bars10 of the device in free end projection beyond the convex marginsthereof, whereby excess hair length is positioned for and exposed totrimming operations effected by any appropriate cutting agency, such asshears, clippers, and the like, applied by the other hand of theoperator against and in guided relation along the convex zone of thecomb bar assembly. Adjustably held in the one-hand grip of the operator,the guide may be moved as desired about and over the areas to be trimmedfor coaction with the cutting agency manipulated by the other hand ofthe operator in a manner obviously convenient and practical to effect ablended graduation and proportioning of hair lengths in the zones sotrimmed, the provision of the oppositely-directed handles 13 in theassociation shown and described facilitating inversion of the guide,when and as desired, for application of either of theconcavely-distinguished tooth arrays to a head zone conformabletherewith.

Since changes, variations, and modifications in the form, construction,and arrangement of the elements shown and described may be had Withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention, I wish to be understood asbeing limited solely by the scope of the appended claim, rather than byany details of the illustrative showing and foregoing description.

I claim as my invention:

In a hair-cutting guide, an elongated, substantiallyrigid, unitary frameassembly of similar, longitudinallyarcuate bars conjoined in uniformspaced relation and transverse registration of their convex margins by astrut laterally thereof and a yoke inwardly adjacent the ends thereofremote from the strut, said bars being formed to convergently taper intheir are planes outwardly from said strut to and beyond said yoke, amanipulating handle fixedly outstanding laterally of said frame adjacentsaid strut, and means instanding from the concave margins of said barsand the corresponding margin of said yoke efiective in raking contactwith hair-bearing areas of a human head to reflect longitudinalactuations of said frame as elevation of the encountered hair betweenand to projection beyond the convex margins of the frame bars, saidmeans comprising doublyand oppositelytapered teeth fixed in spacedsuccession and like inclination along the concave bar and correspondingyoke margins in a length-graduation from a minimum at the ends of thebars remote from the strut to a maximum adjacent the strut terminallydeterminative of a convexity more deeply pronounced than that of thebars and with their free ends advanced toward the strut relative totheir conjunctions With elements of the frame, said teeth fixedlyengaging With elements of the frame in an attachment relatively widelongitudinally of the frame and relatively narrow laterally thereof,whereby to securely connect the teeth to the frame with minimalobstruction of the spaces separating the frame bars and to present thefree ends of the so-tapered teeth in a width laterally of the frame muchexceeding the free end dimension longitudinally of the frame efiectiveto broadly engage and elevate to projection through the frame'human hairrakingly contacted thereby incident to longitudinal manipulations of theframe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,623,292 Widdows Apr. 5, 1927 2,029,792 Pluchino Feb. 4, 1936 2,661,007Bauer Dec. 1, 1953 2,858,835 Pariziale Nov. 4, 1958 2,915,071 WatkinsDec. 1, 1959

